HispanicTrending

January 30, 2013
Via: CBS2Iowa

Over the past 20 years, Iowa's Latino population has nearly quadrupled and a local magazine is helping serve as the voice for that community. El Trueque is now in 12 cities and reaches thousands of Iowans each month. It is the only Latino magazine in the state.

Manuel Galvez created the magazine seven years ago. He is in charge of distributing the magazine to Eastern Iowa’s Latino businesses. It’s a job he relishes.

“I feel like I am so blessed that I have this opportunity to be talking with many different people and listening to them and learning from them. The Latino community, we come from many different countries, and it’s very rich for me on a personal level. It’s an opportunity to receive feedback,” Galvez said.

Feedback for Galvez is easy to come by. He said he often receives input from business owners and patrons regarding what they want to see in the magazine which includes everything from advertisements to details on social issues to ways for Latinos to get out with the family.

“We’ve been attached to el Trueque for so long, and we’ve always had really good feedback from that,” Maria Lourdes Hernandez of

Adriana Salon and Spa in Iowa City said. Adriana’s Salon has been advertising with El Trueque since the magazine first started.

"For awhile we were the only Latino salon in the area. So that is one of the main reasons that El Trueque helped us so much, because he (Galvez) did put out there that we did speak Spanish,” Hernandez said.

That endorsement brought in plenty of customers for the salon. It also worked just down the street for Jose Meza of Meza Auto.

“Many of my customers have seen the ad in El Trueque, I know it definitely has worked for me to get my name out there in the Hispanic community. Of course, I have customers from everywhere,” Meza said.

El Trueque means "The Trader" in Spanish. It’s become a place for Hispanic owned businesses to advertise, to find each other and to find a place in their respective communities

"Small local business is the backbone of this community, not just the Hispanic business you know, but everybody,” Meza said.

“What has helped us with businesses like El Trueque is that we become a part of not just our personal family and the ones that come into our salon, but we become a part of a bigger family,” Hernandez said.

At Adriana’s Salon it’s common for customers to want to know where they can get out and enjoy themselves. Hernandez said it’s easy for her to help them out because El Trueque announces events for Latinos online and in the magazine.

“It’s, you know, looking into our roots. I find it interesting to show my kids, they’re little, you know, how our culture works because they do things, they dance, that they wouldn’t see any other way,” Meza said.

Hernandez said it’s important for Latinos to attend events.  "We're all so close we want to keep it that way,” Hernandez said.

They say El Trueque’s is succeeding in connecting the community, something Manuel Galvez takes to heart.

"When I come back, I am happy,” Galvez said about returning after delivering his magazines.

El Trueque also has a very interactive Facebook page and a large following online.

January 29, 2014
By Robert Schoon

Last November, NBC announced it was going to shut down NBC Latino, the Latino-focused news site that only launched in the summer of 2012. Early in 2014, NBC quietly closed NBC Latino's offices, but Latino journalists and opinion writers have had many things to say about it.

Shutdown

NBC Latino, the website, is still up and accessible, but NBC says it will incorporate whatever NBC Latino material is still being produced into the larger NBCNews.com, as well as redirecting users to the larger site. The move is being made in tandem with the 2014 redesign of the NBC News website.

An anonymous NBC spokesperson told MediaBistro that the re-incorporation will "allow its content to reach a much larger audience and it will further enhance NBC News's commitment and ability to cover news and issues that matter to the Latino community." So on Friday, Jan. 18, NBC Latino was shut down and four of the seven staffers for the site were let go. The others were reassigned.

Reactions

So what do Latino journalists think about the shutdown? Was it just an experiment, or is the shutdown a big blow for Latino journalism? Did NBC just create NBC Latino because it felt like it needed to compete with Fox News Latino?

One of the strongest reactions came from Adrian Carrasquillo, former NBC Latino journalist who now works at Buzzfeed, where his piece, "Why would a major network cut back on Latino news?" ran last week.

In it, Carrasquillo states, "Latino journalists in the newsroom is not some bullshit exercise on a diversity checklist, but an acknowledgement that the newsroom should reflect the country, the people you are writing about, the audience … a newsroom can't afford to be cut off culturally from a huge piece of American life in the 21st century." Carrasquillo thinks NBC Latino failed partly because it "needed to be better appreciated and taken more seriously inside the building," and partly because "a failure, at times, to grasp what people care about on the internet," a jab at NBC's legacy newsroom status.

Marisa Treviño, writing for Latina Lista, said that incorporating NBC Latino back into the larger, more popular NBC News site for more exposure is beside the point: "The trouble is no one understood, nor continues to understand, that a site focused on Latinos means Latinos, in essence, control the conversation. As someone who was among the first to enter the online news space for Latino-centric content, I know how different editorial decisions are made in an environment that is focused on one demographic. The only time the issue of balance in content comes up is when deciding on how many stories to post featuring politics, lifestyle, health, etc. versus how many stories with a Latino slant can be posted before it's perceived that the site is catering to one group over another."

Others were more circumspect in their reactions, criticizing NBC for throwing in the towel and essentially making Latino coverage less of a priority, but also accepting the realities of the 21st century newsroom.

Hugo Balta, President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) said he met privately with officials from NBC, where he used to work, and shared his criticism of the move. Saying he agreed with many of Carrasquillo's points, he also mentioned that "the realities of business models, corporate priorities, and strategies have an effect on any operation." Balta also pointed out that NBC Latino may have pigeonholed itself, mentioning that a Latino news site for English-speaking Latinos should include general news:

"Research shows that Latinos are not looking to have the spot light on them. What they want is to be included in the conversation. What they want is to be reflected in the content (journalists, experts, central characters, decision makers). That's not to say there isn't a place for stand-alone vehicles produced by Latinos for Latinos. But when you're specifically targeting English dominant Latinos; they prefer to be part of the larger conversation."

It's an idea that shapes LatinPost's diverse staff and coverage, actually: that a mix of Latino-focused features should always go with mainstream news, viral content, and generally entertaining stories, since the identities and interests of Latinos are not simply shaped by one aspect. Angélica Pérez-Litwin of NewLatina.net put it best in her personal reaction to NBC Latino's closure:

"As a Latina born in this country… mainstream media is MY media of preference… A media platform or channel constructed around one aspect of my multifaceted life does not appeal to me, at all… Show me a media platform with smart content; that addresses those issues that I'm passionate about; that reports on interests and issues that matter to me; and is written and produced by a group of diverse and talented individuals, including Latinos – and I'll sign up immediately."

Source: Latin Post

January 29, 2014
By Kara Newhouse

But the proper Spanish word is “bizcocho’’ in the Caribbean and “pastel’’ in Central America. Knowing that is essential if you’re creating a bakery advertisement to be read by Lancaster’s diverse Hispanic community.

“We all speak Spanish, but the vocabulary can be different,’’ said Enelly Betancourt, editor of La Voz Hispana. “There is Latin American Spanish spoken in most Central and South American countries; Rioplatense Spanish, which is spoken in Argentina, Uruguay, parts of Paraguay; and Caribbean Spanish, which is what you would most likely hear around here.”

La Voz is a free, monthly Spanish-language publication of Lancaster Newspapers. The February issue, which hits newsstands today, marks the 20th anniversary of the publication and a major overhaul of its content and design.

For the past six years, La Voz primarily consisted of news from a wire service based in Mexico. That meant the terms were from Mexican vernacular, and the stories didn’t connect to a Lancaster audience.

“It didn’t have a local flavor,” said John Villella, director of publications.

So Villella and Betancourt scrapped the news service. In the revamped La Voz, readers will find profiles of Latino leaders in business, government, education and community service. There also will be short pieces about arts and culture, food and drinks, and healthy living. Each issue will also include a calendar and photo essay.

“The folks in La Voz have made the right decision to move it from what it was, which was a publication that was printed in Spanish, to a publication that’s meeting the needs of this important community in Lancaster and will be able to grow and expand over the coming years,” said John A. Kirkpatrick III, president of Lancaster Newspapers.

“The thing that I like the most is that it’s so local, and it’s a mix of coverage of people, issues and social aspects of the community that you can’t find anyplace else.”

La Voz’s February cover story features Christina Maldonado, a Lancaster woman who went from driving a forklift to opening her own catering business.

“I like that I picked this up and I saw Christina, not some men in a region I have no connection to,” Betancourt said.

“And if I don’t know Christina, I can find her, and I can taste her food. She could be the topic we talk about at my next girls’ night.”
Building a publication that reflects local needs and interests requires a lot of listening, according to Villella. The staff spent two days last summer seeking feedback from leaders in the Latino community, and Villella said he hopes that input “snowballs.”

“We want to turn our readers into contributors so that La Voz belongs to them as much as us,’’ Betancourt said.

The relaunched La Voz also features a design facelift that is “fresh, clean and modern, and easy to navigate,” as Betancourt wrote in her February editor’s note. She expects the publication to eventually feature articles in Spanish and English.

The product is a source of pride for Betancourt.

“We’re not the largest Latino community in Pennsylvania, but we’re probably one of the strongest,’’ she said. “There aren’t many Latino communities around us that have a radio station, a TV station and a print publication that caters to their specific needs. We are fortunate to have a company like Lancaster Newspapers committed to serve and support the Latino community with a publication like La Voz.”

There’s still room to grow, though.

“We’re not done yet. We’re just getting started. … There’s just so much to do with 24 pages,” Betancourt said.

Kirkpatrick added, “The area that I’d like it to grow is photos and stories about the people of Lancaster and their everyday lives — their weddings, their celebrations and their milestones that they can share with family and friends.”

La Voz is available in street boxes and businesses primarily in downtown Lanca

Source: Lancaster Online